Behavioral research, and particularly behavioral research relating to consumers' product preferences, may be a time consuming and expensive process. Even when behavioral research is conducted with a significant investment of time and money, the results of the research may not be wholly accurate or representative of consumers' true views.
In some behavioral research scenarios, focus groups of one or more participants are brought together in a common location and presented with products for evaluation. Participants may be brought to a special facility expressly designed for focus group testing (e.g., a facility with special conference rooms that allow the participants to be observed or recorded), which may add to the cost of conducting a focus group. Furthermore, costs may be driven up by the need to produce non-production product mockups or prototypes for the focus group, or simulated two-dimensional models to be displayed on a computer.
Moreover, traditional focus group testing may not yield entirely accurate or satisfactory results. In a focus group, products may be viewed in isolation and/or out of a purchasing context. This may make it difficult to draw conclusions about how a consumer would interact with the product in a retail establishment or online, where the user would be confronted with multiple products and different environmental conditions.
Still further, traditional behavioral research methods may rely on self-reporting by the participants, which may be inaccurate or easily manipulated. For example, consider a participant who is presented with several designs for product packaging and asked which one he or she prefers. The participant may favor a first product design, but may report a different choice. For instance, in a group setting the participant may feel social pressure to select a popular option preferred by the rest of the group.
The present application is addressed to these and other issues that may constrain conventional behavioral research and consumer preference testing.